What State Education Agency Leaders Want from Federal Technical Assistance
Overview
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- Author(s)
- Benjamin K. Master, Elaine Lin Wang, Susan Bush-Mecenas, Rebecca L. Wolfe, and Sy Doan
- Publisher(s)
- RAND Corporation
- DOI Link
- https://www.rand.org/t/rra4822-1
Summary
How we did this
RAND researchers interviewed 37 current and recent former state education agency (SEA) leaders across 14 diverse states and Washington, D.C.
This report examines what state education agency (SEA) leaders think of the federal technical assistance (TA) they receive and how they use it. RAND researchers interviewed current and former SEA leaders to understand how existing TA programs are working, how states might take on some heretofore federal responsibilities, and where states still look to the federal government for guidance and support.
SEA leaders identified two broad categories of federal TA: 1) support for school improvement efforts grounded in research and best practices, and 2) guidance on compliance with federal grant and data-reporting requirements.
The most valued TA shared a few common characteristics: providers had deep familiarity with individual state contexts, worked in sustained partnerships rather than one-off engagements, and helped connect states with one another to share knowledge and coordinate on shared challenges.
Smaller and less populous states in particular benefited from TA that expanded their access to specialized expertise and evaluation capacity they could not maintain internally.
Leaders also identified several barriers that can limit the usefulness of federally supported TA. Slow federal approval processes, administrative burdens, and mismatches between state needs and provider expertise often reduce the timeliness and relevance of support. They noted that while federal TA plays a key role in helping states comply with regulations, it was often difficult to access clear, timely, and actionable guidance, particularly as federal staffing and communication structures shift.
The report provides timely insights as reforms to major TA programs like the federal Comprehensive Centers and Regional Educational Laboratories programs are currently being considered by the Department of Education.
Federal technical assistance plays a crucial role in connecting states… helping them identify solutions more efficiently, avoid duplicating work, and strengthen coherence across the education landscape.
Key Takeaways
- SEA leaders found federal TA most effective when providers had deep knowledge of their state and could work with them across multiple years and projects, rather than offering generic or one-time support.
- Federal TA plays a crucial role in connecting states. Because SEA staff often work in isolation with limited bandwidth to monitor practices elsewhere, they valued TA that provides cross state knowledge-sharing and coordination.
- SEA leaders emphasized the unique role of the federal government as a trusted source of guidance in best practices.
- Looking ahead, SEA leaders expressed the need for a more responsive, streamlined, and strategically aligned system of federal TA. They called for faster processes, stronger matching between states and providers, and continued investment in cross-state learning networks.
- SEA leaders valued local flexibility and wanted federal technical assistance to be responsive to state-defined priorities, with support that can be tailored to each state’s context rather than relying on rigid or one-size-fits-all approaches.
